Vijay Chaudhuri, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla’s chief of staff, will be departing City Hall in the coming weeks to pursue a career in political and government consulting.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“Vijay Chaudhuri is one of the finest public servants I have had the privilege of working alongside. His unwavering commitment to Hoboken and his deep understanding of government have helped transform our city for the better,” Bhalla said in a statement.
“Vijay has been a driving force behind some of our most ambitious and consequential projects and he has played a pivotal role in shaping Hoboken’s progress. Simply put, Hoboken is a better, safer, and stronger city because of him and while I am saddened to see him go, I have no doubt that he will continue to make a difference in his next steps. I wish him nothing but success in the next chapter of his career.”
Chaudhuri began his career at Hoboken City Hall in chief of staff to then-Mayor Dawn Zimmer in 2015. He then went on to serve as communications manager, and later chief of staff, for Bhalla.
In 2017, Chaudhuri served as campaign manager for then-Councilman Bhalla’s run for mayor, which was of course successful. Bhalla is the first Sikh to lead the Mile Square City.
Additionally, Chaudhuri was named an honorary chair of the Hoboken Democratic Party in 2017 and helped initiate and led a successful referendum to move municipal elections from May to November as a member of the “Vote Yes November Citizens Committee” in 2012.
During his tenure with the city, Chaudhuri helped secure the former Union Dry Dock site for Maritime Park, assisted in the negotiations for the historic land swap agreement that gave Hoboken the Monarch site, and worked with city directors to position Hoboken
as a national leader in sustainability and resiliency.
Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic, Chaudhuri is credited with helping establish pop-up vaccine and testing clinics, keeping the community informed of the latest CDC guidelines, and establishing local policies to keep residents healthy and businesses open.
“Serving the residents of Hoboken has been the honor and privilege of a lifetime. I am deeply grateful to Mayor Zimmer for asking me to join her administration in 2015, and to Mayor Bhalla for his many years of unwavering commitment to Hoboken, both of whom entrusted me with the opportunity to help lead City Hall over the past decade,” noted Chaudhuri.
“I am incredibly proud to have worked alongside both mayors, members of the City Council, and my trusted colleagues on countless, game-changing projects that have made Hoboken the best urban city in New Jersey to live in. Hoboken has been fortunate to have had Mayor Bhalla’s steadfast leadership over the past seven years, and I am fully confident that his administration will be in good hands in the weeks and months ahead.”
The city will announce plans to fill the chief of staff role in the near future, officials said.
Writing your own press release as here won’t land consulting gigs. Maybe the new venture won’t require a talent doing signatures of others?
Forging ahead, I guess.
touche!
Thats interesting that he thinks he is the chief of staff. Vijays title in the city is not that of Chief of Staff, if it is then he has broken the law as he has not filed any financial disclosure forms that are required from a chief of staff.
All prior chief of staffs, from John Allan to Dan Bryan have filed financial disclosure forms.
So you tell me Heinis which one is it? Has vijay broken the law and not filed financial disclosure forms or is his true title not Chief of Staff??
This puff piece conveniently leaves out how Chaudhuri, who aims to be a “political and government consultant,” left Hoboken to work in NYC politics, where he most notably had a strategic role in the re-election campaign of Joe Crowley who was summarily defeated by AOC in 2018. He came crawling back to Hoboken where Ravi took him in and put him back on the payroll. Bye for now.